Thursday, October 20, 2005

Thursday, October 20, 2005BARRIE BARBERTHE SAGINAW NEWS Republican gubernatorial hopeful Richard DeVos continues to dodge questions about why, while the leader of Ada-based Amway Corp., he cut nearly 1,400 jobs while the company invested hundreds of millions of dollars in China, the state's Democratic Party leader says. 'It's a fair question to ask him. If that's your record at Amway, why should we elect him governor?' said state Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer, who unleashed his attack against DeVos on Wednesday at the Communication Workers of America Local 4108, 1614 Mershon in Saginaw. GOP spokesman Nate Bailey dismissed Brewer's comments as untrue. "

The company laid off about 600 Michigan employees in 2000 to remain competitive in the global marketplace, 99 others outstate and the rest in non-U.S. operations, the DeVos campaign said.

"Two years separated that and an Amway investment in China," he said. "In business, it's called expanding into new markets."

Brewer said the corporation received a near $300 million federal tax break while the company later cut jobs in Michigan and created jobs and invested millions of dollars in China.

"In fact, they are a Chinese company at this point," he said. "As far as we can tell, his economic plan is outsourcing jobs."

China required Amway to manufacture in China the products it sold in the Asian nation, Bailey said.

"This is not outsourcing," he said. "There are no products sent from China to here."